Preventive - Paul Lahote
by Jane Lowe
Summary: pre·ven·tive prəˈven(t)iv/ {adj.} signed to keep something undesirable such as illness, harm, or accidents from occurring. Not every story starts with an introduction, and ends in a tear filled smile. Some stories are more difficult to understand, while some are for a simple mind. This story, however, is caught in some place between... I guess you should decide.
1. Prologue

_**I do not own Twilight or any characters that are recognizable. All characters and story-line plots are accredited to their respected owners and creators. I do however own Casen and Maddison Ellison, and the beginning aspects of the plot that you wouldn't recognize. ENJOY!**_

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"Casen, stop it!"

The booming laughter echoed throughout the hallways as the sound of sock clad feet pounded against the hardwood floor. Chasing after the teenage boy inside of her house, Maddison felt a sense of anger wash over her, as her paper hung precariously from the boy's fingers.

"You'll have to catch me first, Maddison!"

The smile that was thrown over his shoulder, the gleam in his big blue eyes, would have made any girl melt. However, Maddison only felt rage, in addition to the fact that the wide smiled boy was her brother.

As thoughts of strangulation and castration ran through Maddison's mind, her chase was abruptly halted. With two strong arms wrapping around her waist, Maddison was pulled back away from her laughing brother and into the arms of his best friend. The vibrating chest that made contact with her back only caused her fury to grow as she kicked and clawed at the arms around her so that she could continue to pursue her brother, and ultimately cause his demise.

"Maddison, calm down!"

The booming voice sounded right in her ear, as another wave of laughter bubbled from his throat. Usually Maddison found his laugh to be melodic and semi- attractive, but right now she was too agitated to care about how close she was to her long-time crush.

"I'm gunna kill him, Paul." She stated as she began to fight against his hold, once more, before eventually giving up with an exasperated sigh. Her brother stood at the end of the hall with a big grin on his face as he waved the stapled pile of papers back and forth.

"Look Paul, I told you the little nerd would get upset if I took her History essay from her. She liked to kill me, until you came in."

Maddison's red cheeks from both anger and embarrassment could be seen by Casen all the way across the hall, and he felt slightly bad as he swore he saw tears pool into his sister's baby blue eyes. As Casen stared down his sister, Maddison decided to take advantage of Paul's relaxed figure with his arms only loosely hanging on her waist, and tugged out of the hold and began to punch her brother in the stomach. With a grunt, Casen bent over clutching his stomach, allowing Maddison to snatch the papers away from her older brother's hands.

"Of course I'd be upset when I worked on this for three weeks! Unlike you, I don't plan on flunking and staying on this stupid reserve forever! I want to leave, and do something with my life other than marry into the tribe and have little Quileute kids!"

Maddison's words caused a pain to go through her brother, as he was well aware of the fact that his younger sister was much more intelligent and favored by his parents and the community while he was just another average teenage boy. However, as Maddison whipped around to retreat back into her room, she didn't see the pained look on her brother's best friend's face. The words making him shy away from the fiery brunette as she stormed by, as he felt his heart breaking.

Paul knew that he could never pursue the youngest Ellison child. For one, she was his best friend's little sister, but mostly because she deserved and wanted better than the simple and basic life that came from living on the reserve.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

The Ellison children were anomalies on the reserve, because they were not Quileute kids through and through. While their skin was tan, it was not russet, while their hair was dark, it was not black, while their mother was tribe, their father was not. The Ellison kids were the result of a marriage outside the tribe to a pale face. Their father, James Ellison, a man as basic and mundane in looks as possible. The only thing that the man contributed to his children was their blue eyes, and lessening the dominant qualities that all the Quileute kids seem to have. Their mother's tan skin was evident, but slightly lighter because of their father, and her long thick black hair was present, but just lightened enough to be a brown color not black. Poppy Ellison was defiantly the parent that her children favored, but not enough to make them thoroughly integrated with the other children. The Ellison's were pale faces, thanks to their father, and were called such on the reservation. While the hate and disdain was not present like it was for others who invaded their lands, there was still some stigma because of the difference in the Ellison's appearance. Both Casen and Maddison bared the names and eyes of the other pale faces, and it would forever make them stand out from the rest of the reservation.

However, their pale faces and character traits did not cause them to be completely restricted from the tribe. The Ellison children were involved in almost anything activity that they could participate in. Casen was a part of any sport that the tribe assembled to play, and was the boy that made almost all the girls heart's melt. With his blue eyes and dark locks, thick build and tan skin, Casen was more than attractive in all the Quileute girl's eyes. Casen did not overlook this fact either. Between Casen and Paul there were not many girls that the two could not claim. Yet, the best friends were not overtly arrogant and they each had a weak spot for one girl in particular.

Maddison Ellison just happened to be that girl for Paul Lahote.

Paul had watched Maddison grow into a beautiful young woman. The traits that set her apart, like her blue eyes and only slightly tanned skin and her rich chocolate curls, were the traits that made him love her all the more. Paul was used to having girls fall at his feet and never want anything more than a few nights, but Maddison was the exception. From the first day they met, Maddison tested Paul with her quick wit and sharp tongue… and he loved every second of it. However, Maddison and Paul were just not meant to be- in his eyes- because she never noticed his affinity for the girl and found herself in deep for another member of the tribe.

Paul had never been more jealous of another person until he heard the news about Maddison's relationship with Embry Call. The two had always been friends, but it seemed that she was more than willing to change that for Embry. Paul knew that he would always want Maddison, but with his well-known history with girls that he would probably never have her.

"Hey, lover boy. What are you doing here so early? Don't you have some girl to be smooching?"

The light tinkle of her melodic voice brought Paul out of his thoughts, as he turned his head to see Maddison plop herself down on the sofa besides himself. She had a big, teasing, grin on her face as she made herself comfortable and waited for his response. Paul probably took too long to reply, because he was taking her in like a breath of fresh air.

"I'm always here after school, and who even says smooching?" He replied, eventually, with a roll of his eyes as she playfully gave his arm a light punch.

"I say smooching because it is better than swapping spit."

Paul let out a light chuckle from her immature behavior, before replying. "Yeah… Pretty sure nobody says either of those things."

With a huff, Maddison crossed her arms over her chest with the full intention of partaking in a verbal fight with Paul before her happy-go-lucky brother came into the room practically skipping with joy. With a critical look at the young man, she turned to give Paul a questioning look in which he answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What's got you so happy?" Paul questioned with a smirk on his face as he casually slung his arm over the back of the sofa, which just happened to rest right behind Maddison's shoulders. Paul let his own satisfied smirk cross his face as he watched her lean slightly into the touch while directing her attention back to her brother.

Casen gave Paul a look, knowing about his slight crush on the younger girl, before rolling his eyes and letting the big grin take over once more.

"Leah finally talked to me… Said she was going to give me a chance! I haven't had a chance since, like fourth grade when Sam tied her shoes for her and she fell head over heels for him."

Paul rolled his eyes while taking in the smile on his best friend's face. Casen Ellison has been in love with Leah Clearwater for as long as he can remember, yet Leah was always hung up over Sam. The two, however, had a messy break up when Sam decided that he wanted to break up with the Clearwater girl to date her cousin, Emily. It is safe to say that there is bad blood, but being hung up on Sam is probably still a trend in the Casen and Leah relationship factor.

"She isn't just going to bounce back from Sam, Casen. Weren't they like… engaged?"

Casen's face fell slightly at the reminder before he shrugged it off. Their former relationship status was not going to get in the way of his potential future wife.

"That's irrelevant."

"Seems pretty relevant to me."

"Stop taking her side, Paul!"

With a roll of her eyes, Maddison stood up from the couch and the two bickering boys. Paul saying something about not taking sides, and Casen hurriedly whispering some rebuttal that caused Paul's russet colored skin to enflame on his ears and cheeks.

"Alright… I'll just leave you two love birds to fight, I'm gunna go hang out with my boys!" Maddison called out to the duo before slipping out the door and heading for the house of Jacob Black.

Jacob, Maddison, Embry, and Quil had been friends for as long as Maddison could remember, and were as thick as thieves. The four friends were trouble makers, and it did not help that they were constantly together due to their classes being practically identical for the past ten years. One would think that even the small Quileute school would find a way to separate the pack to keep them from causing trouble, yet they had never done anything about the ruckus that the four always seemed to cause.

As Maddison walked through the little doorway that made up Jacob's garage, she was greeted by booming laughter and the sound of metal hitting metal. With a slight smile Maddison went deeper into the garage to find her three friends spilling soda on one another and throwing bolts and screws at each other's heads.

"Sooo… is this a bad time?"

The boys stopped their impromptu war to look at Maddison, with her hands on her hips and right eyebrow quirked in the cutest manner.

"Uh, hey Mads. Thought you were spending the day with your brother and Paul… So… How's to going?" Quil stuttered out as he looked at the girl in the middle of the small garage. As he talked, Maddison's eyes trailed the sticky orange beverage that was dripping out of his hair with a slight smile on her face.

"If this is what you guys do when I'm hanging out with Paul and Casen, I might need to skip more often." Maddison stated as she picked up a few washers and one of the many orange sodas that were scattered around the room and began to pelt Jacob and Embry who were on the other side of the room from Quil.

"Now it's a fair fight!" Quil cheered as the boys continued the battle.

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be my girlfriend?" Embry called as he shook up his bottle and directed the spray at Maddison.

"Oh chill with the boyfriend stuff already, we all know that it's just a ruse to get Paul jealous." Quil laughed out, causing him to receive a large amount of orange soda to be poured in his hair by Maddison and the other boys to laugh.

"Embry told us, Mads, just chill out!" Jacob laughed back as he threw another handful of washers across the room.

"Whatever, you're just jealous that I won't date any of you soda cover dork!"

"We all know that we don't compare to lover boy."

 _ **I do not own Twilight, or any characters that are recognizable. This is purely a work of fiction and is not intended to claim the materials of the Twilight franchise.**_


	3. Chapter Two

_**For those concerned, this story can also be found on Wattpad on my account Abundance_of_Fiction as well as previews for my upcoming Wolf Pack anthology series books. I will be doing Six of the Wolves so Far (In this order): Paul, Embry, Jacob, Leah, Seth, and Quill. Go check them out and fan and favorite there too! Sorry for the self promo; enjoy!**_

 _ **P.S. This story does take place before the novels and/or movies and will work up to the scene where Bella sees Jacob shift for the first time. It will be a total of 16 chapters and an Epilogue. Unless there is a demand there will not be a sequel but it is a possibility depending upon how well the story is recieved;)**_

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Chapter Two

Maddison laughed as she closed the dull blue locker, spinning the dial to lock away her books, before turning to her three best friends. The troublesome trio had wide smiles on their faces as they mocked Paul Lahote in the hallway. Maddison found herself giggling uncontrollably as the boys narrated what appeared to be a failed attempt at Paul picking up an underclassman.

"Come on, babe. You know you want a piece of the legend." Embry cackled out as Paul moved his mouth and placed his arm on the locker above the russet skinned girl.

"I'd rather have a piece of Casen, Lahote," Jacob sarcastically said in a high pitched voice as the girl's hand flicked at Paul to back up.

"Okay, too far, Black." Maddison laughed as the thought of her brother with the native girl who was known for going around brought a feeling of disgust to her. The three boys burst into another fit of laughter at Maddison's comment and the fact that the girl had simply patted Paul on the chest before walking off.

The boisterous laughter from the group caused Paul to turn his head towards the four best friends with a slight smile on his lips as he saw the way Maddison's eyes gleamed even from across the hall.

Once the groups laughter had died down enough for them to compose themselves, they all looked back at Paul to see him staring right back at them. With a quick movement, Paul winked at Maddison, before walking away.

"Uh, oh." Quill began with a mischievous smirk on his face, and teasing tone in his voice as he turned his attention to the slightly red Maddison, "looks like Lahote found his next victim."

"That or he finally caught onto your little crush."

Embry laughed as Maddison shoved him into the lockers for his comment, before wrapping his arm around her shoulders as the group began to their houses.

"You're really violent, you know that Mads?" Embry teased as Jacob and Quill continued to play a stupid little game behind them.

The quartet all paused, however, once they reached Maddison's house and saw Casen loading up his little red Chevy truck as their mother wept on the front porch. Maddison turned to the worried looking boys with a small, forced, smile on her plump pink lips.

"I'll… I'll, um, see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah." Embry nodded his head as he brought her into a quick hug and whispered softly into her ear. "Call me if you need something." He said with a stern voice as he pulled back to look into her eyes with a soft yet serious expression.

With a quick nod of her head, and a glance back at the scene in front of her house, Maddison turned and hugged Jacob and Quill goodbye; each boy taking the time to reassure her that they were there for her if she needed someone to talk to later.

As she stood in her dirt driveway, Maddison watched her boys walk away. She was afraid to turn around and find out what was happening at her house to cause her mother to weep in a way that she had never seen; not since her dad died, at least. Maddison was never one to deal with emotions well. Always the blunt girl, she did not process pain due to secrets well. She would become bitter before she became sorrowful in a situation where she was betrayed. Unbeknownst to her, she was about to face one of the biggest betrayals' of her life from more than one person that she cared about.

With a deep sigh, Maddison turned and walked up the dirt path. She kept her eyes glued to the little puffs of brown that would kick up every time she took a step, and focused on the sound of the ground crunching against her feet instead of her mother's sobbing.

As she stood next to Casen's truck she noticed he had packed the old rusted bed with a few duffel bags, as well as the shotgun that he kept in the floorboards under his bed. With questioning eyes, the fourteen year old girl looked up at her brother. His blue eyes were bloodshot as he continued to reposition the duffel bags in the back of the truck.

His head suddenly snapped up as he noticed the presence of his little sister. Looking at the innocent, worried, and curious blue eyes that were so much like his own as he listened to his mother's sobs, Casen wondered if he was being rational.

"Where are you going, Casen?"

Casen visibly grimaced as he heard the quiver in the voice of his wide eyed sister. The wind was blowing her long deep brown hair around, and he couldn't help but notice how much she had grown up. He knew that she was going to be furious, and the idea of the innocent looking angel in front of him threatening to smite him broke his heart, but the decision had already been made.

"I'm leaving, Mads."

Her heart clenched at his words as he slammed the rear door to the bed close, before resting his head on the truck for a second as if to regroup himself.

"Leaving… Where… Where are you going?"

His moment of silent reprieve was broken by her softly spoken words. He whipped his head off of the truck to sneak a glance at her, before heading for the cab.

"I joined the military, Mads."

His voice sounded harsh as he spoke the words before pulling open the front door and leaning into the car, as if looking for something. Maddison's feet slowly carried her around the truck to the side that he was on. Her body felt as if it was being controlled by someone else as she reached out and forcefully tugged on his arm.

"What do you mean you joined the army?! You just turned eighteen! You haven't finished school!"

"Like you said a few months ago, Mads, 'I'm flunking, and I am not doing anything with my life.' I'm tired of not fitting in here because my skin isn't dark enough, my eyes aren't black enough, and my last name isn't tribe!" Casen took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face as he turned to face the girl before him. With a sorrowful sigh, his anger faded away into a soft whisper. "I… I just need to leave to find out who I am, Mads. I want to help people and that's what I'm going to do. I made a good enough score on my ASVAB that I can be a UH- 60 helicopter repairer. That's not too dangerous, Mads, but I'll still be helping."

As his watery blue eyes looked up at her, Maddison's reply was cut off by the sound of a car door slamming. The two Ellison children turned to see a sad smile placed upon the face of Paul as he approached the duo.

Maddison's mouth opened to tell Paul about the stupid decision that Casen had made without telling them, but as the words were about to come out Paul pulled Casen into a tight hug.

"I'll miss you, you stupid military man."

The words shocked Maddison, as her blue eyes flicked back and forth between the two best friends. The two boys, who were more brothers than friends, were exchanging words that sounded a lot like a knowing goodbye to her confused mind.

"Yeah, well you better stay out of trouble. You may be my best friend, and a mini-me, but you're still sixteen and I don't need to hear about a little girl being pregnant at base. Do you hear me?"

Casen laughed as Paul nodded his head with a sad smile on his face and embraced her brother once more. As the two finally broke apart, Maddison did not know who she was more mad at: her brother, or the boy who kept the secret from her. Maddison watched as Casen pulled himself into the cab before sending a sad smile her way as he backed out of the driveway.

The little wave Casen sent as his final goodbye was Paul's cue to turn to Maddison, who was already watching his face with her pretty pink lips formed into a frown as her eyes furrowed in a question he wasn't ready to answer.

"You knew?!"

And there it was.

Paul felt his heart break as she backed away from him, shaking her head. Her brown locks flew back and forth as she continued to try and deny the obvious to herself and put space between them.

"Maddison." Paul stated as he reached out to grab onto her arm.

"NO!" She yelled as she pulled her arm out of his reach. Clutching onto herself, Maddison raised her watery eyes, not from sorrow but from anger, to the russet skin boy that she had grown to love.

"NO! You knew and you didn't tell me?!" Her voice was laced with anger and pain as her blue eyes pleaded for Paul to tell her a lie. Tell her that he found out moments before her. Tell her that he didn't encourage this. Tell her that he tried to talk him down. Tell her anything she wanted to hear, so that the betrayal that was written all across her face would disappear.

"Maddison… I…"

He tried but he couldn't make the lies come out; he didn't want to hurt her more than he already had.

"Just…" She took a few more steps away from him. As he tried to follow, she held her arms up at him. Not wanting to hurt her feelings anymore he stopped in his place. "Just know that if something happens to him, it's on you!"

Her words were like knives as the broken voice cracked in anger. The cute little furrow she got between her brows when she was mad at Casen and himself when they pulled pranks on her, was suddenly breaking his heart as he realized he would never see it again. He would never joke with Casen, and sit on the coach talking about Leah as he listened to Maddison singing in the kitchen as she baked his favorite cookies. He would never see her ridiculous bed head in the morning, as he woke her up just to make her mad. He would never get to sit on the coach next to her and watch a movie as his best friend threw warning glares across the room. Suddenly, he was furious too.

"I'm losing him too, Maddison! Don't act like this is my fault! You talked down on him so much with your witty sarcasm that maybe YOU'RE to blame!"

Her eyes were wide as she took in his cruel words. They both were hurting, and instead of dealing with it, they both did what they do best: they got mad.

"Yeah, well he was YOUR best friend! You should have said something! You should have made him feel like he had a place, that he belonged! But, noooo! You were too busy whoring around to realize that Casen was feeling like an aberration!"

His hands clenched into fists as she continued to berate him; the words hurting him more than he would have ever thought the innocent looking girl possibly able to.

"He was your brother! You shouldn't have driven him away! I was there for him! Where were you!"

"You know what?!" She finally snapped stepping closer and pushing the temperamental boy with all her might. Paul barely stumbled backwards, more from shock than her tiny hands against his form. His body felt like it was on fire and he was shaking horribly as he continued to stare down at the icy gaze of the girl he loved.

"Just… Just leave! You're my brothers friend, not mine! Now that he's gone, you don't have a reason to come around, so just leave! You can leave, and NEVER talk to me again, Paul Lahote!"

Her words were like daggers in her own stomach. She didn't want him to leave, no matter how angry she was. She was mad at Casen and just needed a way to get all her emotions out and a knowing Paul was a good enough target. However, she wanted nothing more than for the Quileute boy to wrap his arms around her and pull her close and apologize.

Without another word, Paul's shaking form stiffly nodded his head and took off running into the woods. Maddison watched as a few tears rolled down her cheeks, which she quickly wiped away, before rushing to the steps of her home. Her mother had long since left the porch, but she could still hear her heart-wrenching sobs from within. As she placed her hand on the rusted doorknob, her head snapped to the forest the Paul had just run into. As she stood there on the steps, little tears falling from her eyes, a wolf howled in the distance; a sound filled with so much sorrow that she felt it in her bones.

Little did Maddison Ellison know that the broken howl was that of Paul Lahote, as he shifted for the first time.


	4. Chapter Three

Maddison twirled the ratchet wrench around in her hands, as her eyes watched Jacob work on a little rusted truck that had been brought to him. Every so often the girl would hand him a bolt, or tool needed, but she was mostly just sitting and keeping the native company. Her mind was wandering to "what ifs" and possibilities that were no more, when the garage door was thrown open by a laughing Embry and Quill. Her eyes looked up as her smile widened at the two boys who were pushing and shoving the other into the small space. In one fluid movement the sixteen year old girl was beside her two best friends, with a wide smile on her pink lips.

"What's up, buttercup?"

Quill laughed as he threw his arm over Maddison's shoulder.

Maddison rolled her eyes as she looked up at the tall Quileute boy. Though Maddison was the tallest during their preteen days, she now found herself substantially shorter than the russet skinned boys that have always been her friend. Jacob, Embry, and Quill seemed to have grown several inches overnight once the trio hit sixteen. Though they were still lanky and loveable, Maddison noticed the difference between her boys. Embry was beginning to gain more lean muscle than the lanky Quill and Jacob was beginning to fill in his towering form better too. Maddison tried to ignore the sudden changes in the boys' appearances, because the only other person she had ever seen that happen to was Paul. Paul, who quickly abandoned Maddison and all his other friends and joined Sam Uley's slowly growing gang.

Maddison quickly shook the disturbing thoughts from her head and forced a cheerful reply to Quill.

"Nothing much. Jacob is fixing a car for someone, though."

With a shrug, Quill's arm was back by his side, while Maddison returned to her spot near the rusty truck

"Not just someone," Jacob began as his grease stained face lifted from the interior of the truck. "Bella Swan! You remember her from when we were little, right Mads?"

Maddison rolled her eyes, once again, but nodded her head. Bella had been somewhat friends with Maddison during their youth. This was due to the fact that when Bella was on the reservation, Maddison didn't feel nearly as left out. Bella was a pale face that had found friends among the Quileute community that was not entirely accepting to pale faces. While Maddison was never very fond of Bella, she still enjoyed spending time with her, simply because it made her feel like she belonged.

"Well, she's moving back, and I told Charlie that I would help with her welcome home present."

Embry and Quill shared a knowing look with Maddison as Jacob continued to sound flustered at the nearing arrival of Bella Swan.

"He's been like this all day." Maddison affirmed as she looked at the frantic boy who was leaned back over inside the truck, once again. For a moment, the only sound in the garage that was hear was the subtle clanking of metal as Jacob attempted to fix something inside the vehicle. However, the moment was quickly ruined as Jacob let out a yell of pain, causing Embry and Quill to laugh at their flustered friend.

"Dude, calm down! I haven't seen you so worked up over a girl, like ever!"

Quill's statement was met with agreements from both Embry and Maddison as the three friends chuckled at Jacob's disheveled hair as he clutched his right hand towards himself.

"You just don't understand…" Jacob began as he shook his head. His tanned fane overcome with a look of pure longing, as he imagined that of the young Swan girl. "When we were little, I was like in love with her. She is two years older than us! TWO! I can't seem like an immature sixteen year old. I have to seem mature and desirable."

"ohhh… Mature and desirable!"

Embry and Quill busted out into laughter at the Quill's witty remark and the way that Jacob described his affinity for the Swan girl. Maddison, however, felt for the love struck boy and simply put her hand on his shoulder giving it a firm squeeze.

"You'll be fine, Jake. I've never seen a girl who could resist you, and at six feet tall, I doubt she'll remember that you're sixteen." With a small smile on her face she backed away from Jacob with her arms spread wide as if gesturing to the area around her. "Butttt… I think she'll know you're immature if she ever talks to you, or us. Hate to break it to you, but look around, you're a little doof."

"Oh really? I'll show you immature!"

Her statement was met with a playful smirk as Jacob challenged her statement by chasing her around the little garage, so that he could wipe grease onto her plain white shirt and blue jeans. The playful shrieks echoed throughout the little area, as Jacob picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. The little brunette laughed as Embry and Quill joined in on her harassment, by taking the oily bolts and screws and tossing them at the laughing girl. Their fun was interrupted, however, by a hulking Sam Uley and Billy Black in the entrance to the little garage.

"Guys…"

Maddison's cautious voice caused the three boys to turn to where she was looking. However, as she was still over Jacob's shoulder, the action caused her to be turned away from the two figures so she was forced to be the only one not seeing the reaction of the adult and elder. With the sound of a throat being cleared, the disheveled Maddison was gently placed back onto her own two feet and turned by Jacob's gentle hands to face Uley and Billy. Sam's cold gaze raked over Maddison, as if inspecting every inch of her skin for injuries, before snapping his cold glare back to her eyes. The awkward silence was broken by Billy starting to address the group, though he looked and sounded more cheerful than the other man in the door.

"Sam said that Paul was patrolling the Rez when he heard Maddison screaming. Though it looks like you kids were just having fun, try to keep it down so the neighbors don't send the search party again."

The soft chuckles of Billy Black did not allow the clenching of Maddison's heart to lessen as she heard Paul's name. The boy had become a part of Sam Uley's gang, and she refused to see the boys as the "neighborhood patrol" that all the adults recognized them as. Jacob, knowing his friend's feelings, placed his hand on Maddison's shoulder and gave it a supportive squeeze. The motion, however, did not calm down the pale faced girl.

"Yeah, well we're fine, Billy." Her tone seemed tense but sweet as she addressed the elder, however it was gone in a second as her gaze hardened onto Sam. "And you can tell Paul, and the rest of your little gang, that we don't need you 'watching out' for us. Watch yourself."

The fiery little brunette quickly shook out of Jacob's soft hold, and made her way out of the garage area, making sure to bump into Sam Uley's chest as she left.

Even though things were in the past, she couldn't deny that she still missed Casen and Paul. However, Sam constantly checking up on her with the mention of Paul reporting something amiss set her on edge. He was supposed to be leaving her alone, yet he continued to haunt her present. After two years, one would think that the pain of betrayal from her brother and Paul would go away, but she just felt abandoned and couldn't seem to let it go.


	5. Chapter Four

○○○ Chapter Four ○○○

The next morning, Maddison was woken by a brute knocking on the door to her house. The person sounded impatient, like they had been attempting to gain the attention of whomever was inside for a long time.

"I'm coming," Maddison grumbled as she slid out of the warmth that her big gray duvet provided her. However, the knocking at the door still proceeded to resound throughout the entire small house. Not wanting to wake her mother, Maddison quickly ran across into the hall, through the living room, and threw open the front door.

With his hand still poised to knock again, Sam Uley stood on the porch. His always stoic face was set on Maddison, as she opened the door in a manner that had her cringing. The always cold glare of Sam Uley was different today, it seemed more pensive, in almost a sad manner, than protective.

With her arms crossed across her chest, and her small figure resting against the door frame, Maddison rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Uley? I thought I made it clear, yesterday, that I didn't need you around."

Sam nodded his head but almost grimaced as he outreached one of his long and muscular arms so that he could present Maddison with a small white envelope. Maddison looked between the paper and Sam in a questioning manner, before eventually snatching the little envelope from his large hand. As she went to shut the door in his face, his task of delivering her a simple letter accomplished, she found his large foot blocking the door. With a sigh, and a roll of her eyes, Maddison opened the door again. Eyes wide and irritated, by both his presence and having been woken up before the sun, Maddison's brose rose as she asked what he was still doing on her porch, without using a single word.

Sam's cold gaze fell as he looked upon the young girl before him, while he didn't open the letter he had seen the address and knew that it would not be good news. "Maddison," his voice came out soft and slow, as if talking to a confused infant. "Read the letter, now. I'll be here, because while you told me to stay away yesterday, you won't want to be alone."

Maddison's eyebrows furrowed at the statement before she flipped over the little envelope. Stamped across the little white paper were the words she did not ever want to see.

To The Family of Casen Ellison. Important Information Enclosed.

Maddison looked back at Sam as she shook her head back and forth in denial. A little gasp left her mouth as she hurriedly tore open the little paper slip, and began to read the card.

Dear Beloved Family of Casen Ellison, we regret to inform you…

Without even finishing the card, Maddison was collapsed onto her knees, sobbing. The young girl wasn't foolish enough to believe that it was one of the many letters that Casen had written to her or her mother over the past two years. She knew that this letter, the one that was sent directly to the tribe instead of her house, was the letter she never wanted to see.

"He… He can't… Sam," Maddison's broken voice and pitiful sobs had the muscular and cold Sam Uley knelt before her, holding her shaking form. As he pulled the small girl into his embrace, he placed his head on her shoulder with a frown on his face. Her body wracked with sobs as she clutched onto his shirt, the sounds of her cries echoing in the distant.

Maddison looked up over Sam's shoulder and saw the sun rising over the reservation, and all she could think about was that the sun was rising on a day that Casen would never see. He was gone, and now he had left her more alone than her already bitter heart could stand.

* * *

The news of Casen's death was a shock on the reservation. The locals flooded the Ellison household with their condolences, and a funeral and visitation was quickly prepped. There was no body for the weeping widow and her only child to bury, only an empty casket. The Ellison daughter called off the military funeral, much to their protest, and said that she wanted her brother to be remembered as tribe, and called for a tribal funeral instead. All these plans, visits, and condolences were being made before the sun had even gone down on the first day that Casen would never see.

Paul Lahote was not one to cry, but he did when he found out the death of his best friend. He cried for Casen, he cried for his family, but most of all he cried for Maddison. Sam continued to tell Paul that it was a bad idea to approach Maddison, that he would only get angry and hurt her when he phased. However, as Paul patrolled the area of the res near her house, and heard her heart wrenching sobs, he found himself forgetting about any rules or advice that Sam had given.

Quickly shifting from his silvery gray form, Paul pulled on a pair of blue jean cutoff shorts and was sprinting towards the Ellison household. His feet thundered against the soft brown earth, as he raced at an almost inhumane speed to the direction of the loud sobs. The little white house was flooded with people, and Paul could barely believe that Maddison would want people over while she was grieving. He realized, quickly, as he burst through the front door and searched the crowds of people in the living room and kitchen that no one was here for Maddison. The tribal elders and many community members sat with Mrs. Ellison, weeping and laughing, but Maddison was nowhere. Abandoning the crowds of people, Paul rushed down the hallway to the familiar room of Maddison Ellison. As he stood outside her door, the thumping of his heart was almost as loud as the sobs that were escaping from the room within.

Maddison turned as she heard her bedroom door thrown open. Her sobs calming down, only slightly, as she stared at the stranger in her doorway: It had been two years since she had seen Paul Lahote. Two years of longing and waiting for him to throw open her door like he used to so that he could prank her or harass her in any way. Two years that were kind to the now taller and more defined man that stood before her. Two years that passed with her longing to see the russet skinned boy, but never in this manner.

"Paul."

Her broken voice caused Paul's eyes to snap up to those of her beautiful baby blues, and in that instant everything changed. The longing to see her beautiful smile that was already present, amplified as he stared into her eyes. The room seemed to fade away, and he was perfectly content with it just being the two of them in an endless abyss, forever.

"I'm so sorry."

The words tumbled out of her mouth, causing Paul to snap out of his daze and for his feet to move into action. Paul rushed across the hardwood floor and found himself pulling Maddison into his embrace. The movement felt so fluid, so right. However, why, he was there did not. The reality of the situation came crashing back down on him once Maddison clutched onto his shoulders, her face buried into his skin, as the heart wrenching sobs resumed once more.

"This… This is my fault," the little muffled declaration broke his heart as he pulled her closer.

"This isn't your fault, Mads. You didn't know… None of us could have known."

Maddison pulled away, her red and puffy eyes causing the blue of her irises to look even more prominent. Even in her weakest moments, Paul found himself realizing how beautiful she was.

"You… You could have known," her words caused a hitch in his throat as she suddenly tried to pull away from his embrace. On reflex, he pulled her closer and tried to shush her aggressive cries. "No! You knew! You could have stopped him! We could have stopped him! Just leave me alone, you could have prevented all of this! Now he's gone and it's your fault!"

Her words were like a knife to him as he simply nodded his head and pulled her closer. Her sobs took over once again, allowing Paul to hold her while he released his own tears at her bitter words. He knew she was grieving, but he also knew that she was right. He could have stopped it, if only he had attempted. Then he wouldn't have had to leave her for so long, and he wouldn't have lost what was –to him- a brother… She wouldn't have lost a brother.

The heavy sobs from the girl in his arms were gone, and now replaced by sniffling little snores. Paul pulled her closer and placed a light kiss on the top of her head. Laying her back onto the gray covers, he looked down at her sleeping form and felt his chest clench.

He loved her.

Looking at her gentle brown waves fan about her, he knew that he loved her more than anything. With her red splotchy face, and vivid blue eyes that were hidden behind closed eyelids, he still thought she was beautiful. The imprint was something he never wanted, or at least he didn't think he did when Sam told him about it. Seeing Sam and Alex, and Jared and Lexi, so consumed by each other, he thought he never wanted that. As he looked down at the first girl he ever wanted to settle down for, he realized he didn't want it if it wasn't going to be her.

"I'm sorry… I… I need to keep you safe."

The words were spoken to an empty room and a sleeping figure, but he needed to say them none-the-less. As he grabbed a pen and paper from her desk and began to fill out the little sheet with all the regrets he had, and all the promises he was going to try and keep, he let his own tears fall.

Now… Now he was finally crying for himself, because not only did he loose a brother; he lost the love of his life.

He approached the sleeping girl and placed the paper into her crumpled up fist. Pushing back a strand of hair from her face, Paul leaned over and let his lips linger on her forehead in a gentle kiss.

"I'm going to prevent you from having any more hurt… Maddison, I'm so sorry."

The words were sad, and full of longing, but they lingered in the room unheard. The next morning, Maddison was expecting to see a sleeping Paul, but all she had was a note. A simple letter saying that he was sorry and that he would stay away like she wanted. With another round of tears welling up in her eyes, for the first time in her life, she wished Paul Lahote wouldn't listen to her like he didn't listen to anyone else.


	6. Chapter Five

"Mom, you need to do something."

Maddison looked down on her mother, who was practically dead and lying on the sofa. The woman had taken Casen's death hard, but so had Maddison. The blue eyed girl resisted from rolling her eyes at her mother, while she continued to stir the woman.

"I'm doing something later… Go to school, Maddison."

Doubting her mother's words, but satisfied that she had at least had the ability to be woken, Maddison listened to her elder and grabbed her school bag from where she had set it next to the sofa.

As she was leaving the house, Maddison paused in the doorway and turned to her mother who was still lying on the sofa. She could only see her back but the shaking form told her that she was awake and already sobbing again.

"I'm leaving, mom." She called, her heart breaking for the women before her. "I love you."

She paused, and waited for a reply. When the only response was more tears, Maddison turned on her heel and started the walk to school.

"Maddison!"

The brunette turned with a smile on her face as her three best friends quickly approached her. Quil, Embry, and Jacob seeming all too happy to have caught her leaving school.

"What do you losers have up your sleeve today, are you going to prank the gang, put tacks on Martin's chair, or convince Jake to ask out Bella?"

The group of boys let out tense laughs as they all sidled up to Maddison and Embry threw his arm over her shoulder.

"We were actually going to see what you wanted to do. It's been a while since we've let you call the shots, pale face."

Quill's remark lead to Maddison reaching across Embry to give the boy that was on his right a good smack across his head. The sly grin that played on her lips didn't cover up the annoyance that was in her eyes, though, and all of the boys knew that the hit was not just playful in nature.

"I told you guys before, I'm fine. It's been three weeks… We all just have to move on."

"That doesn't mean it's not going to hurt, Mads. We just want to make it hurt less."

Maddison acknowledged Embry's comment by shrugging his arm off of her shoulder and walking in front of the trio. Turning around, she opened her arms in a dramatic and frustrated manner.

"Well, I'm fine. And to prove it, we're going to jump off the damn cliffs."

"Mads."

The scolding voice of warning that she expected to come from the trio at her crazy idea, came -instead- from another behind her. Whipping around Maddison was met with the concerned and scolding eyes of Paul Lahote. His broad frame was covered only by a thin white singlet and a pair of ragged cut off denim shorts that caused Maddison's breathe to catch. His appearance, however, could not distract her from the disapproving look that was on his face. His deep brown brows pulled together in concern, and she couldn't help but to be mad and attracted to him all at once.

The conversation came to a halt, as well as the groups feet, as they all waited with baited breath to see what would occur between the blue eyed girl and the tanned boy before her.

"It's dangerous. You should go home."

Maddison rolled her eyes at Paul's blunt statement and crossed her arms over her chest. Her defense was up, and she was not going to let Paul, the boy that had abandoned her, treat her like a small child receiving a scolding.

"The cliffs aren't that dangerous. We used to jump off of them together all the time, so stop being an annoying, also unwanted, wannabe parental."

"I wasn't talking about the cliffs."

Maddison's brows drew together at his cryptic language. Before she could question what he meant, his head was turning towards the woods with a pensive expression on his face. His whole body becoming rigid and tense at some unknown force.

"Just go home, Maddison... All of you."

With those last commanding words, Paul took off running towards the Res tree line at a speed that was almost inhumane, leaving Maddison's confused and angered blue eyes to follow.

"Wonder how far up his ass that stick is permanently wedged."

Embry's comment broke the bewildered silence that had overtaken the small group. Maddison's mood had been ruined by Paul's presence, and while the boys laughed at Embry's comment she could only find herself forcing a small smile.

"So, to the cliffs?" Jacob encouraged as he noticed Maddison's downcast eyes and the way that she was forcing herself to keep up the pretense that she was listening to what the boys around her were saying.

"Actually," Maddison began as she glanced towards the direction that Paul had just left. Her eyes wondered among the green pines before looking back at the faces of her three best friends, all of whom were obviously noticing her change in mood. "I think I'm just going to go home to check on my mom... She still isn't handling things very well."

All three of the boys gave Maddison that look, the one she hates so much because she knew that it was the face of someone who felt sorry for her... she was tired of all of those looks.

"Yeah, tell your mom we said hey! We'll just have to go to the cliffs another time, maybe convince Jacob to bring his new beau Bella."

"Yeah," Maddison forced a smile at Quill before turning away and walking home... Just like Paul had told her to.

As the three boys watched their friend walk towards her home, all of them had a frown on their faces.

"How long before she stops listening to him like he is a God?" Embry asked with a scowl taking over his face at the idea of the gang member that was ruining their friend's happiness.

"Until she stops loving him like it's her religion."

Sorry for taking so long to update; also this story is TWO chapters ahead on wattpad under the same name - preventative- by my account Abundance_of_Fiction if y'all get too eager to wait! This story will be updated two chapters behind the wattpad account just so I can get feedback on there before I post it here because the formatting of this site for review and comments is kind of weird to me, but the updates WILL happened here every SUNDAY from this point on, y'all enjoy!


	7. Chapter Six

"Mom, I'm home!"

Maddison yelled as she took off her boots and placed them in an awkward position by the front door. Not hearing a reply, she walked into the kitchen threw her satchel from school onto the kitchen table.

"Mom?"

The house continued to remain silent, much to Maddison's dismay. As she walked through the kitchen threshold and into the living room, she expected to see her still grieving mother on the sofa. However, as she approached the old couch, she realized that her mother was not in the place that she had been when she left, or the rest of the week for that matter.

"Well… She did say she was doing something later today," Maddison mumbled to herself as she gave up on the search and went to her bed room.

The brunette tossed herself onto her small bed and instantly wrapped the gray duvet around herself. She knew that she had school work that she needed to do, but instead she buried her face into the mattress and let out a soft scream before just idly lying on the bed for who knows how long. All that she could think about was the soft curve of Paul's lips as he came across her and her friends today. The small smile was quickly replaced by a frown, but she had not missed its presence. His tanned skin still looked flawless as ever and she could swear that every day his muscles became more defined and alluring. It was no secret that her Paul used to be a womanizer and was able to get all of the girls that he wanted, and seeing his new physique, there was no doubt in her mind that his playboy actions were still occurring and probably more frequent. Yet, she couldn't help but be like all of his victims and find herself dreaming of what it would be like to look into those deep brown eyes and see not only admiration, but love, and lust, and pride, and all of the other things that she longed for.

That is why she screamed.

Not because she was frustrated with his interference in her life, once again, but because she secretly savored any glimpse of him that she could get. She was mad at him, but she hated herself for not being able to fully despise him, after all this time.

As she lied on her bed, she heard the soft groaning of her front door opening, the tell-tell sound of the third wooden board from the entrance groaning under someone's weight, and the gentle click as the lights were turned on. Maddison sat up in her bed, unaware of the time, and faced the door. She knew that it wouldn't be an intruder to kill, steal, or harm her on the Rez, but she also didn't know why someone would be in her house, unless it was her mother.

"Mom?"

Maddison's curious and tired voice rang out through the house, and the person halted. It seemed as if the air in the home became icy cold, and the atmosphere thick with something that Maddison could not decipher. If she were superstitions, she imagined this feeling was like what one feels when encountering a vengeful spirit, the air just seemed so… hostile.

"Mom, is that you?"

Maddison sat up from the bed, dropping the comfort of her blanket from around her, and began making her way towards the living room. Her steps were slow and cautious, the suffocating feeling of something being _wrong_ lingering in the air. She moved quietly, avoiding the boards that she knew would creak or groan under her weight.

As she peered into the living room, she could see the front door; The white door wide open, as well as the small screen door. Had it not been for the creaking of the floorboards that she was certain she heard, she would assume that it was just the wind. However, she knew she heard the floorboards creak, and it would be impossible for the wind to blow open the screen door.

Maddison's eyes cautiously raked the living room, but everything seemed just as she had left it. The old beige sofa still had the hand crafted quilt hap hazardously thrown over the back cushions, the coffee table still had a home improvement magazine opened to a page about patio furniture, the old cream rug was still flipped up from her feet dragging to floor when she came home, and even her shoes that she left by the front door seemed to be turned in just as she had left them.

Releasing a breath, Maddison resigned to the fact that maybe she didn't hear anything. Maybe her mind was just playing tricks on her.

Just as she gave up on her own suspicions, a strong gust of wind flew by her. The force was so great that her hair brushed against her face, and she let out a light shriek at the sudden, and unexpected, movement. It was almost as if someone, or something, had run and brushed past her at an inhumane speed. Before she could even process her thoughts, the wind rushed out the front door, causing the screen door to slam close behind whatever it was.

Maddison stood in the living room, shocked and unable to process what had happened, for only a millisecond before the screen door was thrown open yet again, and none other than the man that plagued her every waking thought was rushing through the door.

His eyes looked wild as they frantically searched the room, only to land on her frozen and , now even more-so, surprised face. In two long strides he was across the room and cupping her face in his hands. Compared to him, her skin seemed so cold, and she couldn't help but lean into his touch for a second. His skin was so warm that it caused a fire to erupt from her cheeks all the way down to her toes. She savored the feeling and couldn't help but soak in every ounce of warmth and all of the sparks that she felt from his skin simply touching hers.

"Maddison, are you okay?"

His voice awoke her from her lovestruck stupor. Snapping her blue eyes up to his, Maddison nodded her head as she shook her head- still firmly encased in his grasp- in assurance.

"There was something here, Paul… I swear I'm not crazy… I swear it was here."

Her voice broke as the words left her lips, and her eyes began scanning the room for whatever mysterious force could have been inside her home.

Paul tensed at her words, before turning her face back to him so that her eyes would clash against his own. She seemed so frightened, but curious, as well as disbelieving; the explanation being a leech. He could smell it in the house, and there was a vague scent on her right shoulder, as if the creature had simple placed it's hand there and moved on.

"What was here, Maddison?! What was it?!"

His hands shook against her gentle skin as he looked at her. The smell of the leech overwhelming his senses as he tried to keep calm and comfort her, and it just made him want to explode. How had he let them get that close? Why did they even come here?

"I don't know…" Her brows were furrowed together in confusion, and her voice sounded hollow and in a daze.

Before Paul could reply, the howl of his leader erupted from the forest. Paul whipped his head at the command to give chase; they had found the leech. His eyes locked onto the slightly watery orbs of Maddison. He was so conflicted. He could stay here and protect his imprint, or go out and hunt the bastard down that frightened her. As the scent of leech continued to surround him and cause his anger to grow, he knew what he had to do.

"Maddison, I believe you."

Her wide blue eyes flickered to his in astonishment that he would believe her seemingly crazy claim.

"I'm going to help, but I need you to stay here and lock the doors. Get to your room and don't open the door until I come and get you okay."

Maddison opened her mouth to say a snarky response, finally coming to her senses.

"Just say okay!"

Paul's snap caused Maddison to swallow whatever sarcastic remark she had forming on her tongue, he knew her and he knew that they did not have the time for her resentment towards him at the moment.

"Okay…"

As soon as the words were uttered from her lips, Paul pressed a kiss to her forehead- just like he always used to- and was quickly running out of the door.

Heading his words, Maddison quickly ran and shut and locked the door behind him, before making her way to her bedroom and doing the same with her personal door.

Paul was quick to shift, completely shredding his denim shorts, and he began to give chase to the leech. In his other form, it was easy to trace the stench from the Ellison household deep into the woods where Sam had given his summoning command from. He quickly came upon the large black and brown wolves that were already in pursuit. Sam and Jared had obviously been giving chase for a while, but Paul being the only one off duty still was the most ruthless when it came to the chase; not just because this particular leech had for some reason taken interest in his imprint.

" _She is headed towards the hunting party."_

Sam's voice came through clear in his mind. Paul had heard Harry Clearwater talking about joining some hunting party with the Forks community to keep them from finding out about the tribe secret, but he couldn't imagine them being this deep into the woods when they were not even sure what they were looking for.

" _I smell blood. It's human. It's reached the party."_

With Sam's confirmation of the stench and metallic smell that was beginning to invade his senses Paul rushed faster towards where the leech was now causing harm.

" _PAUL, STOP!"_

Just on the edge of the treeline, Paul stopped. There was a small clearing, and inside the clearing was all of the damage that he could take. A broken howl passed through him as his feet pawed at the ground, wanting to go further. Right before him, laying in the small clearing, was the hunting party. Looking frantic, the group seemed to have been looking for something- or someone- other then the hunt and they had stumbled upon them. There lying in the clearing was Harry Clearwater. His blood was pooled all around him, the leech didn't even kill him as a snack but for pleasure. The Washington grass was stained a bright red color, that contrasted with all of the hunters' fall colored clothes. As the group continued to make shouts of "found them" and "call and ambulance" Paul found his eyes glued to one particular figure. Right next to Harry Clearwater, lied the still body of Poppy Ellison.


	8. Chapter Seven

_Chapter Seven_

"Maddison?"

Blue eyes, still wide with fear from her previous encounter looked up at Paul. His heart broke at the news that he was going to have to give her.

"Thank God! I've been going crazy for the past hour thinking something bad was happening..."

Maddison cut herself off as she saw the distraught look on Paul's face

"Paul? Is evverything okay?"

Usually she would be too busy resenting the boy before her, but there was something different. Today he had tried to protect her, made her feel safe, and she was feeling something that she hadn't acknowledged for a long time towards the native boy.

"Maddison, I want you to know that I would prevent any danger that I could from happening to you... but I can't prevent the pain that you are about to feel."

"Paul, what are you..."

"Maddison, Poppy was killed tonight."

She had been sitting in her room for days. Days with only the numbing sound of her slow heartbeat to fill the void. She wondered how it even could beat after all the pain that it had endured.

No more Cason. No more Paul. No more mom.

Her heart couldn't take anymore.

That's why when her uncle Billy came over to tell her that he wanted her to come and live with him and Jacob, as her legal guardian, she just looked up at him with bloodshot blue eyes before laying right back down on her bed in denial.

And she hasn't moved from that bed since... not to see anyone, not to talk, not even to attend the funeral that was held for Poppy Ellison... She couldn't even will herself to go to her mother's funeral. It was as if ever since Paul said it outloud, she had lost the will to live, to breathe to do anything.

"Maddison."

Eyes, lazily opened to see Paul's tired face by her side... He had never left.

Maddison stared at the Quileute boy before her, saw his lips moving as if he was saying something, but Maddison's tired mind could not make out a single thing that he was saying.

Paul wanted to yell, scream, curse the whole world, and just about anything else at the moment. Maddison was tired of living, it was clear for him to see. He, however, was worried that the moment he left the room her body would find the strength to rise up and end it all. She hadn't said a word to him, their only communication being tears and the desperate clinging around his neck... then it all just stopped. Her tears dried up, bloodshot blue eyes that looked haunted taking their place, and her embrace stopped feeling like an attempt to hold on as she let herself go.

"Maddison! You need to get up! Say something! For God's sake, CRY!"

Maddison's eyes looked right at Paul, yet there was nothing. Her heavy lids, colored almost purple from the lack of sleep, simply fell over the blue eyes that he was waiting to see a reaction from.

"Maddison... please."

It was a broken plea, from a broken man. The words sounding like a prayer on the lips of a dead man, and it seemed as if it was just that. Paul could not take seeing his imprint in so much pain, it felt as if his own heart was crumbling in on itself.

His tanned skin reached out to pull her closer to himself, hoping that he could anchor her to this world. As he pulled her close, it was almost as if he were moving a corpse, her limp frame molding to his own without an ounce of resistance.

His Maddison would have fought that embrace tooth and nail. She would never have let him hold her the way that he was now, she would never have let him weep into her shoulder the way that she was now, she would never have been as quite as she was now, and it was all that he could take.

Her eyes were still closed as he looked down at the girl he loved, his whole world, before he distanced himself from her once more. Rising from the bed, Paul stood before her and felt all of the grief that had been building up for the past few days turn into fury. All of the things he had done to protect her, and he still wasn't good enough... He would never be good enough.

His fist were clenched to the point of drawing blood, his whole form shaking as the one he loved lie completely still. If he couldn't bring his Maddison back from this, he would at least avenge her.

Paul ran out of the home that was slowly turning into a cemetery, and rushed to the only places that he thought he could find answers at.

"SAM!"

The word was primal; a call for help, and an angry demand all at once.

The pack leader turned and his dark eyes clashed against the fiery black ones that were Paul Lahote. His stance grew to his full height, fully prepared to have an altercation with the hot-tempered wolf that was looking for somewhere to redirect his emotions. The rage, the fear, the guilt, and most of all the hatred could practically be smelled off of the younger wolf.

"Why were they at her house?! Why did they kill Poppy, out of everyone in that group?!"

Sam knew that Paul wanted answers, but he did not have much to give.

"Paul you need to calm down, you know that they didn't just kill Poppy, Harry died too and we are all dealing with that. I know you want to protect Maddison but-"

"I CAN'T PROTECT HER WHEN SHE IS KILLING HERSELS! I CAN'T GIVE HER ANSWERS TO WHAT KILLED HER MOTHER, WHAT WAS IN THEIR HOUSE! GOD, I CAN'T EVEN TELL HER I LOVE HER BECAUSE SHE IS JUST LYING THERE..." Paul yelled at Sam and got closer and closer to him with every step. As he was right in Sam's face a low growl erupted from his leader's throat. Paul's heated glare turned into one of despair as he realized that he was taking it out on his friend. Taking a step back he ran a tired hand over his short black hair. "She's practically as dead as the rest of them, Sam... She doesn't move, doesn't eat... if it keeps going like this, I'll lose her forever."

Sam pitied the young wolf before him. He knew that he cared about the Ellison girl, long before he found out that she was his imprint. They had even tried their best to keep the fiery tongued girl away from Paul to make sure that he wouldn't tell her about the pack secrets when they didn't even know how involved she was.

"If you love her, maybe it's best to let her go, Paul. There is not much left for the Ellison girl to live for in this world... I don't want anything bad to happen to Cason's sister, or your imprint, but I also don't think a young girl can recover from that much loss... give her space, if she comes back to you, then embrace her, but if she is lost to us forever, you can't be mad that she isn't the girl that she used to be... She just doesn't have anything left to return to her old self for, this might be her now."

Paul's sad and angry eyes looked up at Sam, unbelieving that he could say that his quick witted, sharp tongued, problem causing, rebel of an imprint would never return. "She has me."

"But she doesn't know she has you."

Paul felt fury at the truth in his words. He had done a good job the past few days of keeping his shifting in check for the sake of Maddison, but now his bi-polar emotions and feelings had him boiling over and he could literally feel his skin crawling as it wanted to change forms.

"Paul, control yourself!"

Before Sam could even finish his sentence, Paul had turned and run off into the woods. His tanned skin soon replaced by the silver fur that seemed to be the cause of all of his problems. His padded feet took off into the forest, with every intent of comforting his imprint. His primal side wanted to protect Maddison, wanted to kill the leech that had caused all of this harm.

As he stood outside of the Ellison house, he didn't hear a single sound except for the slow drum of a heart that didn't want to beat any longer.

He let out a soft whine, feeling overcome with sadness for his imprint. However, the soft whine soon turned into a gut-wrenching howl. The broken plea echoed throughout the forest of the Res and all the way into the outskirts of Forks. Loud and long, the sound came, something so primal that Paul had no control over it; it was as if his wolf were summoning the entire tribe to come to his imprint's rescue.

Maddison's tired eyes shot open at the broken howl of a wolf. The same broken howl that she had heard before. She slowly rose from her bed and on shaking feet made it over to her window. Looking down, she saw the slumped over figure of a silver wolf in the tree line that surrounded her home. The large wolf's howling stopped abruptly, and his large head snapped up.

Maddison gasped, the first sound she had made in days, as the dark eyes of the wolf connected with her own. Even from the distance, Maddison could see the hope and pain in the animal's eyes, and for some reason she felt hope too. This was her wolf, it cried when she cried, and it shared her pain. A flicker of a smile crossed her face at the sight of her wolf, but as soon as it was there it was gone.

Maddison turned away from the window, and Paul let his head drop once again. His wolf had summoned her from the dead, but she was quickly returning. However, he tilted his head to the side like a curious puppy as he heard a sound from inside the house. The faint sound of water hitting the tiles could be heard from inside, accompanying the sound of a slightly stronger heart beat.

Paul's feet happily hit the ground as he let out an accidental yip in joy.

Maybe Maddison wasn't herself for now, but that didn't mean she would always be because him and his wolf were going to protect her, and bring her back from the brink. If his howl can summon his love back from the dead, then he would never stop yelling if that was what it took.

In the outskirts of forks, a shocked expression morphed into one of sly satisfaction on a pale face. Head turning towards the direction of a broken howl in the distance, a smirk- that can only be described as full of malice and sick pleasure - took over the pale face as she reveled in the pain that her chase had caused. She would let the little one go, for now, but the satisfaction of finishing a hunt and seeing the damage was more fun than just a few sad pups.


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight:

Days of agony turned into weeks, and weeks turned into a month. A whole month before Maddison could even begin being recognized as the girl that she used to be. Jacob and Billy had been taking care of her, providing her with food when to dishes that people brought over after Poppy's death had long stopped coming. Maddison felt bad for her uncle, she truly did. It was hard for Billy to accept the fact that his sister was dead, and she had only stopped being selfish to recognize the bags under his eyes about two days ago when she decided to start to live again.

For a whole month, Maddison had spent her time between her room and her kitchen, with the occasional shower in between. The quite that encompassed the house was something she still hadn't got used to. Growing up, there was always noise from Poppy's mindless singing to Cason's loud antics with his friends... but now, there was just the silence that seemed louder than all of the noises that had ever echoed through the halls put together. That month was torture... not just for Maddison either.

For a month, Paul patrolled solely outside the Ellison household, making sure that nothing could harm Maddison even if that something was herself. He would listen to her heartbeats, make sure they were steady, and the second that it seemed irregular he would be headed to the Black household to make Billy or Jacob check on the girl. No one found it odd that Paul was watching over Maddison- Sam, Billy, and Jared knew the reason that he was being this way- but that didn't mean it was not painful for everyone else to watch Paul become almost as lost as the girl that was locked away from the world. The only reassurance Paul had that Maddison was okay, was that she would go to her window every night and look upon him in his cursed form. Her bloodshot and hollow eyes, haunting him every second of the day until he got to see them again at night.

However, Maddison was determined to change today. Billy's sickly look had shaken her out of a selfish stupor, and she realized that she had been pushing everyone away at a time when she should have been holding on the most. Quill came by and got a door slammed in his face every day for a month, Embry came for two weeks and then he stopped, while Jacob only ever saw her when he was brining over food from Billy or coincidentally showing up at the times when her mind went to the darkest places.

Putting a finishing swipe of mascara on her eyes, Maddison stared at her reflection in the mirror. For the first time in a month she was bathed, dressed, and presentable... yet she could not recognize her own reflection. She was thinner, her skin – which was already considered pale compared to her native friends- seemed especially pasty, her hair had grown about an inch yet it seemed even more limp and unhealthy than it had in a long time, and her eyes... The blue that looked nothing like her mother's but everything like her brother's, seemed to be permanently bloodshot from crying. Letting out a deep sigh, Maddison accepted her new appearance as she reached for her book bag next to the vanity and headed towards school.

It might seem irrational to go to school after all the trauma that she had endured, and she knew she was helplessly behind schedule even though no one had uttered a word about her returning, but she needed some normalcy in her life after the mess that it had become. If sitting in the boring lectures for six hours meant that she could feel like the past year had never happened, she would do it until she was not allowed to anymore. Seeing Quill smile, hearing Jacob laugh, watching Paul flirt with other girls, having Embry's arm carelessly slung over her shoulder... these were all things that she longed for and that she had not even realized that she needed until recently.

Arriving at the tribal school, Maddison was quickly met with surprised looks and rushed whispers. She had expected as much, I mean it is not like every person in the world loses everything that makes them normal in the time span of less than a year... especially not in the tribe.

"Poor thing... must be hard to lose your mother and your brother."

...

"I heard that her mom was the reason Harry died, too... something about him trying to help her."

...

"Maybe her mom just did it to herself, I mean her son was killed... everyone knew Poppy wasn't handling it well."

"Must be hereditary, because the pale face doesn't look too good either. You think she'll try to off herself?"

...

Maddison rolled her eyes at all the failed attempts of people talking about her without her hearing, and wanted to punch the little freshman girl that would even joke about hurting herself. Maddison couldn't lie, her mind had wondered there at moments when the weight of it all just seemed too much for herself. Doing something, anything to just make the pain go away would be too easy for the stubborn headed Ellison girl, and that was what she just had to keep telling herself. The pain sucked, it was literally causing her physical health to fail, she was tired, and sick, and had this constant ache in her chest, but that pain meant that she was alive. She'd be damned, and Cason would personally drag her back, if she gave up on the life that her family did not get to experience just because she was hurting at the moment.

"MADDISON!?"

The surprised yell caused Maddison to turn on her heel, only to quickly be smothered in a warm embrace. Maddison was surprised at first, she had only been gone a month, yet Quill's lanky figure seemed to have grown a whole foot and he filled out. The boy's long hair and warm embrace seemed to be the only thing that reminded Maddison of the boy he was not long ago.

"Hey, Quill."

Maddison's voice broke on the words and she placed her face into Quill's chest. She needed this. She needed him. She needed her friends.

Quill pulled back with his signature smile on his face as he looked down at the Ellison girl. The wide smile, however, quickly turned into a small grin as his eyes softened at the sight of his friend. Maddison knew that she looked weak, that she was weak, but she didn't want to see that reflected in the eyes of her friend and adverted her gaze to the floor.

Quill noticed Maddison's resistance and placed his hand below her chin to bring her gaze back to his own.

"It's good to see you Mads, and I'm glad you decided to stay."

The soft smile that accompanied his words seemed to lift some of the weight off of Maddison's chest as she nodded her head at her native friend. "We missed you," Quill added as Jacob came into Maddison's line of sight, nodding his head in agreement with Quill's words.

"Yeah, I missed you guys too..." Maddison reaffirmed as Quill dropped his hand from her face and let her put some practical distance between themselves. Maddison, feeling overwhelmed by emotions let out a forced laugh and tried to redirect the topic. "I mean, who has been here to keep my boyfriend in- line... Where is he, by the way?"

Jacob and Quill both shared a look, and Maddison knew that it wasn't good. Not knowing if she could handle any more bad news a nervous laugh passed her chapped lips but when the two boy's serious expressions never faded her face dropped. "What is it?"

"It's nothing really," Jacob was quick to say as he saw Maddison's nervous expression. The last thing the two boys wanted to do was set her off and have her go back into hiding for another month. "It's just that..." Jacob ran a nervous hand over the back of his neck as he searched for the words to say. However, he never had to find them because his answer came in a physical form.

At that very moment, Maddison watched with wide and confused eyes as Jared and Paul came walking into the school. As per usual, a lot of people were looking there way, but today someone unusual was with them: Embry.

Maddison's eyes snapped back to Quill and Jacob who were turned and looking at what had captured Maddison's attention. Her two friends were looking at the trio with scowls on their faces, and Maddison could have sworn she heard an audible growl come from Jacob at the sight of the three together.

"How long?"

Quill was the only one to turn to look at Maddison when she uttered the simple question.

"Two weeks."

His response was met with a deep frown from the Ellison girl as she turned her eyes back to the three who were passing her own trio at the moment. Jared seemed indifferent, Embry looked like it was taking everything in him to keep his eyes off of the girl that had been missing for over a month of his life, and Paul was looking at Maddison with a soft smile of his lips. Maddison couldn't help the instinctual reflex to roll her eyes at Paul, which only caused his grin to grow more as he turned his head away from the girl.

"I'm not surprised, Embry lost it one day. Shouldn't be a shock that he turned to Uleys' gang to take out his frustrations."

Jacob's fury was evident in his voice as he turned back to Maddison and Quill with his arms crossed and a hard look on his face. Quill rolled his eyes and slung his arm over Maddison's shoulder, much like Embry would always do, as he started to lead the trio towards their first class.

"Ignore Jacob. We all have just been... coping... in different ways to all of what has happened. It might have been the worst for you Mads, but everyone was affected."

Maddison's eyes went downcast at the statement. She knew Quill was just trying to make Maddison less sensitive to Jacob's volatile mood, but his words struck her heart. She had been being insensitive to the people around her and how they were all dealing too. They lost Poppy and Harry, and in a sense, they all had to lose Maddison – their best friend – too.

"Yeah, too bad Embry had to go and join a gang to deal with the frustration that the girl he has loved for years didn't want his attention but just Paul's."

"Jacob, enough!"

Quill and Maddison both turned towards the still seething Jacob at Quill's outburst and Maddison was confused, heart broken, and angry all at once. Never had she thought about Embry and her's little façade having been anything more to him, not when she thought he liked another girl. Jacob, however, just rolled his eyes at the two and balled his hands into fists.

"Dude," Quill stated as he playfully – yet seriously- punched Jacob in the arm. "woah, dude are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jacob replied through clenched teeth.

"No, seriously dude... you're burning up."


	10. Chapter Nine

**_!Thank you to TheNewestDaughter for letting me know that there was A LOT of formatting issues for chapter seven! I don't know why that happened but it did it to this chapter at first, as well, so I will be on the look out. I know this is still a rough version, so there are MANY mistakes - and please let me know if one just really bugs you and I'll fix it- but PLEASE if something drastic like the chapter seven mess happens let me know and I will try to fix it ASAP. Chapter 7 has been reposted in an 'easier to read' format, and here is another chapter as a Thank you! I am also posting this story on Wattpad under the name Abundance_of_Fiction if you like that site better; enjoy!_**

 _Chapter Nine:_

"Dude, are you sure you're okay?"

Maddison was at the Black household with Quill helping Jacob prepare for his "not a date" date with Bella Swan. She looked over at the nervous Jacob as he tried moved the collar of his shirt away from his neck. It was obvious that Jacob was nervous, but it was almost like there was more. Ever since Jacob had blown up at Maddison two days prior, Quill and Maddison had been keeping a keen eye on their friend and they weren't the only ones.

Little did the duo know, that outside the Black household were two anxious boys, just waiting for the young man inside to shift. The tribe knew that Jacob's shift was inevitable, he was their rightful leader by blood and it was only a matter of time before he followed his kin and shifted. With his agitated state, and the "fever" coming on, the time was soon.

Paul and Embry heard Quill's comment from outside the house and their faces set into a grim line. They had been waiting for weeks for Jacob to shift, but since the return of Maddison into his daily life, Paul had taken it upon himself to keep his eyes on Jacob at all time so that he would not harm his imprint when he finally did shift.

Embry could see the worried look increase on Paul's face as Maddison mumbled some type of reply within the Black household, and a frown of his on grew on his face. When Jacob blew up at Maddison, he had not been completely wrong; Embry did have some feelings for the girl that he had pretended to date for two years, it was inevitable that he would actually start to have affections for the girl that he had to openly be affectionate to. However, when he shifted it was as if all of those feelings became platonic. When he first shifted, Paul was on patrol, and he could see and feel a lot of the gray wolf's emotions and memories because they were so turbulent and overwhelming. He could clearly see himself, but not himself, standing outside Maddison's window and could feel all the love and worry that Paul had for his imprint. In that moment, it was as if all Embry's affections for the girl turned into protectiveness and he respected Paul for loving her in a way that he would never be able to.

"Why don't you just tell her, then we could all protect her and you wouldn't have to worry so much?"

Embry's voice caused Paul's head to snap to the newest member of the pack with a grimace on his face.

Paul had wanted to tell Maddison so many times about what was happening in Forks and on the Reservation. When he first saw her after he shifted, he just wanted to tell her the whole story and that he was meant to be with her for the rest of her life, no matter if it was just as her protector and friend. Then when that leech was in her house, he wanted to tell her and to take her away. They still did not understand why it had been attracted to that place, why it was on their land, why it had murdered their people. Those reasons just made Paul want to tell Maddison even more, but he knew his duty as her imprint was to protect her first.

"She isn't ready."

Embry glanced at Paul, who had adverted his gaze back to the house, where he imagined Maddison stood on the other side of the thin wall.

"None of us were... Doesn't mean you shouldn't tell her."

Paul could feel Embry's eyes on him, but all he could focus on was the rapid beating of Jacob Black's heart as he stood feet away from the girl that he was supposed to be protecting.

"As an imprint, it's my job to prevent harm from coming to her. You'll understand one day. Until then, she isn't ready."

Maddison rolled her eyes as Jacob and Quill started to bicker about the not date and how Jacob should approach Bella if he wanted to win her over. Maddison, however, just sat on the floor in her own little word as her two friends verbally sparred.

Maddison did not see the appeal in Bella Swan. She remembered her from when they were little: the only other pale face girl that made appearances at the Res. Sometimes the two would play, but it was only because of their common complexion, and not their common interests. Bella had always been a bit introverted and weird to Maddison, as well as the other Quileute kids and – in Maddison's opinion- she had never grown out of her awkwardness. She was older now, and Maddison could not deny that she had a simply beauty about her, but she was still awkward and introverted. She had glanced Bella Swan with her father at her house when her brother passed, and did not make any attempt to talk to the girl who was snuggled in the corner of her living room until all the people had left. It had been a passing glance, as Maddison retreated to her room, but the encounter left her unimpressed with the Swan girl after all these years, and she couldn't understand why someone as full of life as Jacob was drawn to someone like Bella.

"You know what, I'm going like this and I'm going to be the one that she notices! Not that stupid Mike kid."

Jacob's booming voice brought Maddison's head out of her reverie and her gaze to the tanned skin boy who was pushing his way past Quill and outside of the house. Quill glanced down at Maddison and gave her a satisfied smirk, causing Maddison to roll her eyes because she knew that it had been his plan to convince Jacob to make his move, and make it assertive, all along.

"We'll looks like it's just us." Quill stated as he helped Maddison up from her place on the floor and then threw his arm over her shoulder as he lead her through the Black house. "You wanna hang at your place or mine until we can get the end of the date scoop?"

Maddison threw a smiled and waved goodbye to Billy as the two walked outside the house. "Mine, we can watch crappy horror movies like we used to."

Quill groaned as the two started walking the direction of the Ellison household. "Only if we watch a comedy afterwards, you know I hate going to bed right after watching scary movies."

Maddison threw a smile up at her friend. "Jacob's retelling of his date should be enough of a comedy."

Quill let out a big laugh at the joke that Maddison had stated, knowing that it would most likely be true.

Paul and Embry watched as Quill and Maddison left the Black household not long after Jacob. Paul could feel his anger growing as he saw the boy's arm over his imprints shoulder.

Embry, seeing the hot tempered boy's expression, placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You don't tell her, she needs comfort and normalcy. They're just friends... Besides, we have a job to do."

Paul glared at Embry before turning his gaze back to the walking teenagers who were laughing. His glare broke slightly at the small smile on Maddison's face, one that had been missing for so long, and forced himself to take a deep breath. His fist unclenching, Paul nodded his head at Embry's words.

"Let's go make sure Jacob doesn't do anything stupid then."


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten:

Maddison and Quil waited until midnight for Jacob to return from his date to tell them how it went… but when there was no sign of him by the late hours, they both gave up and fell asleep.

Thinking things had not gone will, the due gave Jacob the space they thought he would need, and planned to meet back up with him at school.

One day passed without a sign of Jacob.

Then two.

By the third day that Jacob had missed school, the duo became worried. Gathering up the work Jacob had missed over the last three days, they decided that it was best that they stopped by his house to make sure that everything was okay. Quil, however, did not think that Jacob would tell everything with him there and decided to let Maddison check up on the boy by himself.

That is how Maddison found herself trudging through the muddy dirt road, arms weighed down by pointless work, as she headed to the Black household. Every step of her once white converse caused mud to splash up onto the rolled cuffs of her jeans, and a slight curse to escape her lips. Maddison was agitated, as she had been quite often, but the weather was not helping.

"Damn, Jacob better dying or I just ruined these shoes."

Maddison cursed and let out a frustrated groan as a particularly large chunk of mud was kicked up from her shoes onto the bottom of the stack of papers that she was carrying.

Readjusting the papers in her grip, she set her sights on the Black's wooden porch that was quickly approaching. It was obvious that someone was home, due to the lights' yellow glow that brightened the darkened area due to the gloomy overcast weather, but also because of yelling that could be heard as she continued to approach. She recognized the voice of her uncle, as well as Jacob, when they yelled, but there was a cacophony of other voices that responded all at once that she could not distinguish.

Not wanting to interrupt some type of argument, Maddison made her presence known by intentionally causing her footfalls to be heavy thuds on the wooden platform. The voices inside dwindled to nothingness, now aware of her presence, so Maddison took that as a sign that she was safe to knock.

Her heavy rasps echoed through the air, and a heavy silence followed.

She was not completely naïve, she knew that there were people at the Black household, and an abundance of them, so when no one came to answer the door or respond she found herself growing more irritated. She waited a few more moments, just to see if someone was going to acknowledge her. However, when there was no sound she felt all the irritation from the day and Jake ignoring her that she exploded.

"JAKE, I KNOW YOU'RE THERE I COULD HEAR YOU YELLING OUTSIDE. ANSWER THE DAMN DOOR BECAUSE I'M WET, AND TIRED, AND PISSED AS HELL!"

Her yell was accompanied by her fist beating on the door to emphasize every word.

On the other side of the door, Paul was looking around the room with wide eyes. Sam, Jared, Embry, Jacob, and Billy were all trying to be quiet, hoping the girl would go away. Paul could feel his heart beating in his chest, the sound so loud he swore that he would give them all away. Harry looked back at the men before releasing a tired sigh and looking straight at Paul. Paul knew, without words, that Harry wanted him to open the door and let the girl into their world so that moments like this would stop happening, and he was silently asking for permission to do that at the moment. However, the panicked look on Paul's face was answer enough, as Billy rolled over to the door and opened it only a sliver.

Maddison looked down at Billy as the door was opened a crack with an exasperated look on her face. She opened her mouth, ready to demand to see Jacob, but Billy had cut her off before she had the chance.

"Jake doesn't want to see you, Maddison. You need to stay away, give the boy some peace. Go home. I'll make sure that Sue comes by and checks on you later, but just…" Billy's hard edge to his voice withered as he saw the shocked look on the girls face, "…go home."

With his final tired words the door was slammed into his niece's face.

Maddison stood on the porch, all at once feeling surprised, angry, and drained. However, anger was quick to cancel out the other emotions as she looked at the damp and muddy papers in her hands.

"SCREW YOU, JAKE. HERE'S SOME BULL SHIT HOMEWORK FOR YOU TO DO. HAVE A NICE LIFE, _COUSIN_."

With her angry remark left hanging in the air, Maddison let out a frustrated huff as she threw the papers onto the wet wood of the Black porch. She quickly whipped around, her brown hair sticking to her face from the rain, before rushing away from the home with tears pooling in her eyes.

The entirety of the pack within the Black household was quiet. The emotions varying from each member at such an intensity that Billy was sure that either Paul or Jacob were going to shift and do more damage than what his already old body had suffered.

"WAS THAT NECESSARY?!"

Paul shouted as he made every more to rush out the door to follow the fragile girl that he could hear running away.

Embry was quick to grab Paul's left bicep, leaving Jared to do the same on the right, so that the old man would not come to harm. Yet, as Paul's form began to heat and shake under their grips, the two did not know if they could stop Paul's wrath.

"What the hell, dad?"

Jacob was in a similar position across the room, with Sam holding him in a vice grip to keep him for either charging his father or taking after one of his best friends.

Billy took in the scene before him, not necessarily regretting the way the situation was handled but regretting who it had been. His brown eyes locked onto Paul's shaking form, then to Jacob, and back to Paul before he rolled himself close to the heated gaze of the wolf.

"You don't want her involved, then she is not to be involved. It will no longer be easy, everyone she knows is gone or will not be able to see her anymore. You chose this outcome, I did nothing but enforce your wishes. Your imprint, your rules… but don't think this is going to keep anyone from resenting you, especially her."

With Billy's angered words, he looked back to Jacob who was still seething.

"From this point forward, do to conflicts with personal lives and pack, no one is to engage with Maddison Ellison until she is aware of the… _disposition_ … that we all seem to be a part of." Billy's eyes flicked back to Paul as his authoritive gaze dropped into a small frown. "Including you, Paul. No more patrolling near her home, that job now belongs to Jared."

Paul tried to lung forward, but the two other men held him back from doing something that he would regret.

"This meeting is over, return to your homes or patrol."

Billy took to rolling out of the room, to his own private quarters, the weight of what he just said weighing down on all of the wolves in the room. As long as Paul wanted to prevent Maddison from knowing the truth, he was -by decree- keeping her away from the few people she had left in her life.

Paul let out a low growl, as he threw his shoulder forward, and finally released himself from the grasp of the other two wolves.

"This is your fault."

Jacob sneered from across the room, as Sam continued to hold him.

Paul just lowered his eyes to the old wooden shack floor, knowing what he said was true. His heated glare stayed on a particular notch in the wood for too long, before he rushed out of the house, with every intention to find Maddison and let her know exactly how he had ruined her life again.

Maddison, however, had taken the cold shoulder from her uncle and cousin particularly harsh. The girl had fled the scene and crossed the entirety of the reservation, before reaching the destination that she now resided out. Her still damp frame was only beginning to warm in the small room of Quil Atera, as tears fell from her eyes.

Her still damp hair was causing wet patches on Quil's shirt, as he clutched the crying girl into his chest. Had he known that Jacob, and his father, were going to be so harsh to Maddison he would not have sent her there on her own. He genuinely thought that Jacob might talk to Maddison about whatever was going on with him, but wouldn't because Quil was a bro, but whatever was wrong obviously wasn't going to be answered to either of them.

Maddison's sobs had lessened to a steady stream of tears when she slightly pulled back from Quil to look up at him. "Is there something wrong with me, Quil? Everyone leave, no one has ever tried to stay. Even after Cason and Mo-… No one cared enough to check on me except for you and Jacob. Why?" Her glossy blue eyes were looking up a Quil, searching for an answer that he didn't have to give. She was wrong though, a lot of people cared… more than she would ever know. Jacob and himself were just the only people that ever made their presence known, because they didn't want anyone to see the trouble that she was going though and think less of her for it. "Why do you even care?"

Quil did not know how to answer her question, without the fear of saying the wrong thing. His brown eyes watered just looking at her, his brows pulled together, as he did not know how to answer her questions. It would be so simple to say that she was his best friend, that Jacob and Embry were doing the same things because they loved each other, but he couldn't seem to put those emotions into a sentence.

Maddison's eyes downcast at the lack of his response.

"I'm just…" Maddison began before raising her gaze to meet Quil's once again. "I'm just so tired of being alone."

Lost in her grief, and looking for some type of reassurance that she wasn't in fact alone, Maddison did something that she never imagined herself doing in her life. Without a warning she raised herself onto the tips of her toes and pressed her salty lips against that of her best friend's.

"Maddison, don't. You don't want this."

Quil was quick to pull away from the girl before him, that was reeking of sadness and grief. He did love Maddison, but not like that, not in that way. He knew that she did not feel that way about him either.

"I knew it." Maddison became hysterical as she pulled away from Quil's embrace. "Even you don't want me! No one does!"

"Maddison that is not true and you know it! I love you, I do! But not like that, and neither do you!"

Quil's booming voice echoed into the small space causing her watery blue eyes to snap to his.

"Maybe I do," her voice was a quiet whisper, the words almost lost from the subtle way that they were spoke.

Quil walked forward and pulled Maddison back into his arms. "But you don't."

Maddison latched onto Quil, once again, and she pulled him into a friendly embrace. "I don't know what I want, Quil. I just don't want to be alone anymore."

Quil let out a sad laugh as he pulled Maddison out of their embrace so that he could look into those red rimmed eyes with their unnatural blue hue.

"You're not alone, even if you feel lonely. We're all here for you… and if Jacob, and Embry… Hell even Paul want to be dicks, well I'll still be here for you. No matter what."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Little did the two know that after returning to her home within the next two hours, that a fever would be upon Quil that would cause that promise to be broken.


End file.
